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Arts & Entertainment Television Freedom of choice?
Arts & Entertainment Television Freedom of choice?
| Freedom of choice? |
 The spirit of three intersex people rises above titles with shock tactics, notes David Knox.Television usually prefers to rank our community GLTBi. There are plenty of gay males and lesbians. Transfolk are peppered in comedies, or found playing reality ‘tricks’. With the exception of SBS docos, Sinchronicity, and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila, bisexuality usually confuses producers. Intersex falls off TV’s radar entirely. So it was with some trepidation I approached the UK documentary series, My Shocking Story. It’s previously featured medical episodes called Half Man Half Tree and The Man With No Face. Roll up, roll up for the freakshow! Thankfully, the episode Which Sex Am I? is not entirely tabloid. Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) is the state in which a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit the typical definitions of female or male. Three such individuals are profiled here. One is Angel, an eight year old Brazilian child raised as female by parents, but discovered to have Y chromosomes at the age of four. Another is 24 year old Italian, Tiziana, who confronts her mother about what she thought was an operation on her uterus at 15. The principal subject is 16 month-old infant Jacob from the Philippines. Born with a penis and a uterus, Jacob and his mother travel to the US via the charity Mending Kids International. Consulting American specialists, his mother has the agonizing task of deciding what sex Jacob should be. Poor little Jacob is the most darling of kids, wide-eyed, and full of zest belying his tiny frame. Despite their best medical tests, doctors can’t be 100% sure whether he has concealed testes until surgery; but little Jacob contracts a lung infection and his health is too fragile for the operation. His is a story that tugs at your heartstrings. Ethical questions are raised here about the ways societies view ‘the third gender’ and parents conform to norms. Some tell their children about their early upbringing, while others shield them from the truth. Thankfully, there is a fleeting acknowledgement that being born intersex should never be considered shameful. By the end of this episode it is the spirit of little Jacob that will shine through any anatomical debates. Despite its title, the only real ‘shock’ in this documentary is the fact that television is giving over sixty minutes to talk about intersex in the first place. My Shocking Story: Which Sex Am I? airs 10:30pm Tuesday on Seven. TV GuideFRIDAY APRIL 11[Nine/10:40pm] NIP/TUCK. The penultimate ep of the season limps across the finish line. Dr Bland is threatened into doing pro bono work on a trans woman beaten up by his son. Dr Whore learns that Kimber is held captive by the mysterious Carver. Next week, the big reveal! SUNDAY 13 [Ten/7:30pm] SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA. Loved last week’s surreptitious message when Jason congratulated Demi for her acting skills after a romantic duet with Henry. Meanwhile, Rhys is unstoppable. But just once, could we have a slow, sensual number please? [SBS/8:30pm] Movie: GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK (US 2005). David Strathairn is the best thing in George Clooney’s smoky, claustrophobic essay about a CBS newsroom exposing the tactics used by Joseph McCarthy during his communist witchhunts. A top Sunday flick. MONDAY 14 [Nine/6:00pm] NATIONAL NINE NEWS. Peter Hitchener shows strength of character by acknowledging private aspects of his life with dignity, and then knuckling back to work. As Anton Enus has demonstrated earlier, sharing who you are with the audience only elevates respect and credibility. [Seven/8:30pm] DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES. Boy, we have a lot of gay characters in this series now, Mr Cherry. Yet another steps briefly onto the stage tonight. Meanwhile, the original Wisteria queer, Andrew, sets up a hovel of a flat but matures in the process, even insisting on Bree using a coaster. Like mother, like son? [ABC/9:35pm] ENOUGH ROPE. Denton let Wayne Carey off the hook too easily, a rare miss for such an assured interviewer. In this clip edition there is better work with Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld, Barry Humphries, Gina Riley and Jane Turner, and the boys from LITTLE BRITAIN. But get ready for the ‘interview from hell’: Goldie Hawn. [SBS/10:00pm] SINCHRONICITY. Final. The bisexual triangle is confessed and resolved, but as is the hallmark of this show, there are two SLIDING DOORS-like executions. Jase even tells Nathan, “it is possible to love two people.” Fay has her party before gender reassignment…still not buying this performance, it feels so simplistic, but the rest has been spirited. WEDNESDAY 16 [Nine/8:30pm] CANAL ROAD. Premiere. In this ‘drama/mystery’ about a psychologist avenging the death of his family, Paul Leydon resembles a matinee idol as a man taking the law into his own hands. Handsomely shot with a few noir-ish shots of Melbourne, the first ep essentially sets up what will doubtless unfold as conspiracy theories later. Together with UNDERBELLY and SEA PATROL, Nine is certainly showing a drama comeback. [ABC/9:00pm] THE IT CROWD. New Series. Pick of the Week. I didn’t see much of series one so I was genuinely surprised at how damned funny this turned out to be. Roy, Moss and Jen head off to see ‘GAY. A Gay Musical’ and what unfolds will have you peeing your pants. The musical parodies (including ‘I Love Willies’) are a hoot, but other scenes provide the biggest mirth. Funniest thing on the box so far this year. THURSDAY 17 [Seven/9:30pm] LOST. Series Return. Grant Bowler guests in the first of two episodes, as an original cast member returns for a much bigger twist. www.tvtonight.com.au
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